The basement walls of any building must support the weight of the entire building. Such walls are typically made from poured concrete or cinderblocks, which both have a very high resistance to the compression forces created by the weight of the building. However, these materials provide very little resistance to lateral forces created by soil and water pushing against the outside surface of the wall. With little or no support on the inside of the wall to counteract these forces, it must be capable of bearing these lateral loads itself. However, in many instances, these walls cannot withstand the magnitude of these lateral forces and can begin to bow and crack.
Many techniques have been created to combat the effects of lateral forces on basement walls. Specifically, when a basement wall is constructed, rebar or metal beams are routinely inserted into the concrete as it is poured, or as the cinder block basement walls are built. This metal provides some resistance to lateral forces, but it is often insufficient to counter strong lateral forces by itself. Additionally, these types of solutions cannot be installed after a wall has been constructed, and therefore, cannot be used to reinforce a wall after it has already been compromised by lateral forces.
Steel beams have been used to reinforce the interior sides of basement walls after they have begun to bow or crack. However, steel beams can be large and unsightly when installed along a basement wall. This can be unacceptable in finished basements, which are commonly found in modern homes and office buildings.
In order to create a more aesthetically pleasing solution to this problem, carbon fiber has been applied to wall surfaces in thin strips, which can be painted, in order to resist lateral forces exerted against the outside of the wall. Carbon fiber is a very strong material, which has proven capable of supporting basement walls subjected to extreme lateral forces. However, when carbon fiber is placed only on the surface of a wall, stress points can be created at the top and the bottom of the wall, where there continues to be no reinforcement. One solution to this problem has been to attach a Kevlar strap from the carbon fiber strip to a floor joist located above where the strip has been installed. This strap can reduce some of stress created at the top of the wall where the carbon fiber strip ends, but still allows shifting to occur and does not address the fact that there remains no support at the bottom of the wall.
What is needed is a system for reinforcing a basement wall, which can disperse the lateral forces throughout the entire wall as well as the building above it and the floor and foundation below it. These forces can be dispersed if there is a good connection between the carbon fiber strips and both the lower portion of the building located on the top of the basement wall and the basement floor and foundation at the bottom of the basement wall.